1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to plumbing fittings, particularly to adjustable fittings that are easy to use and install. More specifically, the invention relates to adjustable closet flanges and repair couplings or tail pieces.
2. Prior Art
Plumbing fittings are provided in a variety of shapes, sizes and designs to facilitate connection of pipes to each other and to appliances and fixtures such as lavatories, sinks, bathtubs, showers, water closets, and the like, and for other purposes known to those skilled in the art. For example, these fittings may be designed to couple or adapt a pipe of a first diameter to a pipe of a different diameter, or to connect the overflow and/or drain from a bathtub or sink to a drain pipe, or to connect a water closet to a sewage drain pipe, or to repair previously installed pipes or fittings, and the like.
The fittings generally are provided with either a threaded connection, a compression coupling, or parts that are adapted to be glued together to enable the fitting to be coupled with other plumbing parts and components. Some fittings are provided with telescopic connections to enable the length of the fitting to be adapted to the spacing between parts being connected.
Examples of prior art fittings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,386,796, 4,687,232, 5,190,320, 5,297,817, 6,070,910 and 6,681,420.
The telescopic pipe repair coupling described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,796 is designed for repairing a break in a length of pipe, and comprises an internally reinforced hollow piston 17 reciprocable within an externally reinforced cylinder 11 having inturned ends forming shoulders 33 and 35 at its opposite ends for limiting travel of the piston in the cylinder. The piston protrudes from one end of the cylinder to form a connector tube 53 for attachment to one end of the length of broken pipe, and the opposite end of the cylinder has a hollow bore for receiving an adjacent end of the length of broken pipe, whereby the broken ends are spliced or coupled together. An internal annular ring in the bore forms a butt shoulder 41 for limiting the extent of insertion of said adjacent end of the pipe into the cylinder.
A similar telescopic pipe repair coupling is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,232, wherein a piston cylinder 20 having a piston section 26 and a pipe section 24 is reciprocable within a cylindrical housing 12. A bushing 38 is adhesively secured within one end of the housing 12, and a stop shoulder 23 is formed in the other end to retain the piston within the housing. The bushing is used to secure one end of the repair coupling to an end of the broken length of pipe, and a coupling member 50 is used to secure the pipe section 24 to an adjacent end of the broken length of pipe, thereby splicing or coupling the broken ends together.
The '796 and '232 patents are both designed and intended for repairing a break in a pipe, and thus are constructed to couple together two lengths of pipe of the same diameter. Moreover, each of them has interior surfaces at right angles to the direction of flow, forming obstructions that can eventually trap sediment or other debris and lead to clogging of the pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,320 discloses a telescoping closet flange for bringing a vertical sewage drain pipe even with the level of a floor. The flange includes a cylindrical body 26 that is slid over the end of the drain pipe, and a cylindrical seal 28, slide 30 and seal cap 32 held together by shoulder bolts 56. The seal 28 and associated components 30 and 32 have tapered surfaces that coact to tighten the seal about the body 26 when the shoulder bolts are tightened.
A somewhat similar arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,817, except that the flange has an upper section 12, separate lower section 14, and a surrounding seal 16, all adapted to be inserted into the end of the sewage drain pipe 36. Bolts 18a, 18b and 18c are extended between the upper and lower sections to draw them toward one another to compress the seal against the inner surface of the drain pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,910 discloses a push-in closet flange, wherein an o-ring seal 16 is positioned around the cylindrical end 14 of the flange, and the end 14 is then pushed into the end of the sewage drain pipe until the proper height of the flange is achieved.
The devices disclosed in the '320, '817 and '910 patents all have limited adjustment and require fairly close measurement and cutting of the drain pipe in order to achieve proper positioning of the flange. Moreover, the '320 and '817 devices require the use of separate fasteners and assembly of multiple parts, increasing the difficulty and time required to complete an installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,420 discloses a T-fitting for connecting the drain and overflow of a bathtub to a drain pipe. The one-piece T-fitting eliminates the several parts previously required to connect the overflow and drain of a bathtub to the drain pipe, but there are no telescopic parts and the components are rigidly connected after the pipe ends are inserted and glued in place in the T-fitting.
It would be desirable to have a fitting that was simple in construction, involved a minimum number of parts, was easy to use, and that provided ample adjustment to accommodate the situations likely to be encountered in a typical installation.